BJP brass will discuss Patel’s successor today

AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI: The BJP parliamentary board will meet in Delhi on Wednesday to formally accept Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel’s resignation and start

AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI: The BJP parliamentary board will meet in Delhi on Wednesday to formally accept Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel’s resignation and start the process of appointing her successor.

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Gujarat BJP chief Vijay Rupani, 59, and health minister Nitin Patel, 60, are said to be the front-runners to succeed the state’s first woman chief minister. But sources did not rule out the possibility of the party leadership springing a surprise. Assembly speaker Ganpat Vasava, a tribal leader, is also said to be in the reckoning.

The BJP’s state in-charge Dr Dinesh Sharma and general secretary V Satish will be in Gujarat on Wednesday to consult state leaders. BJP president Amit Shah is likely to arrive in Ahmedabad the following day to oversee the transition. The BJP legislature party may meet on August 4 or 5 to choose a new leader.

“We have learnt that Shah will likely be in Gujarat for three days from August 4 and a series of meetings, including with MLAs, is being scheduled,” said a party leader.

Sources said the BJP chief had postponed his Kolkata visit to be in Gujarat.

They dismissed speculation of Shah returning to Gujarat, where he was a minister under former chief minister Narendra Modi.

They said he had a big task on his hands, keeping in mind assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh early next year and others before general elections in 2019. The BJP has had several setbacks in Prime Minister Modi’s home state — which goes to polls in December 2017 — during Patel’s two years at the helm.

Its vote share declined sharply in civic body polls last December. The Hardik Patel-led reservation stir by the seemingly well-off Patidars — who make up 14% of the state’s population — and allegations of irregularities involving her family members put the CM on a sticky wicket.

The nationwide outrage last month over the assault on four Dalits by cow vigilantes may have been the final straw for Patel — though she requested she be relieved of her post as she would be turning 75 in November.

While choosing her successor, the BJP leadership is likely to factor in the unrest among the Patidars. Nitin Patel, who served in Modi’s cabinet in the state, enjoys the backing of the community. Rupani, on the other hand, belongs to the Jain community, numerically insignificant in Gujarat, but is a confidante of Shah, who handed over the reins of the state BJP to him.

“It is not necessary that she be replaced with a leader from her caste. We will take a call on merit,” a Union minister from Gujarat said on condition of anonymity.